A raft of changes have been made to the Petronas Yamaha SRT and Petronas Sprinta Racing line-ups ahead of the Tissot Aragon Grand Prix next weekend. Jake Dixon remains in MotoGP™ after a promising showing at Silverstone, with Moto3™ star John McPhee filling his seat and set to make his long-awaited first Moto2™ appearance. Meanwhile, FIM Moto3™ Junior World Championship front-runner Syarifuddin Azman will fill McPhee's vacant seat and the Malaysian will make his World Championship debut.
After a solid first outing on his Yamaha YZR-M1 in front of his home fans at the British Grand Prix, Dixon will contest one more round in the MotoGP™ class alongside Valentino Rossi. In turn, John McPhee will get his chance at graduation, stepping up inside the Petronas Sprinta Racing outfit from Moto3™ to Moto2™ to sample the Kalex machine for the first time in his career. He will ride alongside Xavi Vierge who will be taking part in his third home race of the season.
This allows the Petronas Sprinta Racing Moto3™ squad to give an opportunity to a new talent in the form of Malaysian rider Syarifuddin Azman. The Moto3™ Junior World Championship rider, and race winner at Barcelona earlier this year, has shown promise this season and this opportunity to join the Moto3™ grid alongside Darryn Binder presents the perfect springboard for another aspiring Grand Prix rider to make his World Championship debut.
Razlan Razali, Team Principle: "The current dynamic status of the team allows some exciting opportunities for our riders and also new talent. We were satisfied with Jake’s MotoGP debut at the British Grand Prix so want to give him the opportunity to continue his learning in the MotoGP class in Aragon. This of course leaves a space in his seat in Moto2 which we wanted to give to John, who will make his Moto2 debut. Subsequently, this leaves a perfect platform for us to lend his seat to Syarifuddin Azman from the FIM CEV. Azman won one round in Barcelona of the FIM CEV, and I think it’s a great chance for him to gain experience to determine his level in the Moto3 World Championship. We are excited by the prospect of giving exposure to our young riders and we wish them all the best."
John McPhee: "It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to try the Moto2 bike in Aragon. As with every rider, it’s their dream to progress through the categories, and I feel like I am at the level, and have the ability to make this step up to Moto2. Of course, the challenge will be extremely difficult because it’s my first time ever racing a big bike, with my only real experience being 15 laps of Barcelona in 2019 which was a ‘thank you’ from the team after my win at Le Mans.
"I’m really excited and motivated for the challenge and really looking forward to trying the bike. There’s no real expectation, I’m just going to enjoy it a lot and feel like if I can improve session by session and keep closing the gap with the fastest riders, then this will be a job well done. Thank you to my team for this opportunity."
Syarifuddin Azman: "I am so happy and so excited to race in the Moto3 World Championship and I want to say thank you to PETRONAS Sepang Racing Team for giving me this opportunity. It’s a very valuable chance that doesn’t often come along, so I am working even harder to give my best for the race."